Announcement For Show of Interest For People Employment Programme Revision Contractors

The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis (GOSKN) has received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in an amount equivalent to US$ 8mn towards the cost of the TVET Enhancement Project and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this financing to eligible payments under a contract for which this invitation is issued. Payments by CDB will be made only at the request of GOSKN and upon approval by CDB, and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement. The Financing Agreement prohibits withdrawal from the financing account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of CDB, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. No party other than GOSKN shall derive any rights from the Financing Agreement or have any claim to the proceeds of the Financing.

The Ministry of Education (MOE), the Executing Agency, now wishes to procure consultancy services for the Review of the People Empowerment Programme.

The objective of the consultancy is to assess the effectiveness of the PEP as a viable, gender responsive, employment support and training initiative and make recommendations to support efficient and sustainable approaches to social protection programmes, inclusive of appropriate human resource development elements. In particular, the consultants will:

(a) assess the efficiency of the existing PEP model in planning, coordinating, managing and utilising resources allocated for its implementation, through an analysis of its procedures and institutional mechanisms. This analysis will seek to uncover factors for success and limitations in the current model; and

(b) identify the programme’s degree of effectiveness, particularly its contribution to the stated objectives of permanent employment (with special regard to youth employment) and recommend appropriate mechanisms to improve the employability of existing PEP beneficiaries and, if appropriate, overall programme effectiveness.

The duration of the assignment is expected to be for a period of no more than four (4) months.

MOE now invites interested eligible consulting firms to submit Expressions of Interest for the provision of these consultancy services.

Consultants shall be eligible to participate if:

(a) in the case of a body corporate, it is legally incorporated or otherwise organised in an eligible country, has its principal place of business in an eligible country and is more than 50 per cent beneficially owned by citizen(s) and/or bona fide resident(s) of eligible country(ies) or by a body(ies) corporate meeting these requirements;

(b) in the case of unincorporated firms, the persons are citizens or bona fide residents of an eligible country; and

(c) in all cases, the consultant has no arrangement and undertakes not to make any arrangements, whereby any substantial part of the net profits or other tangible benefits of the contract will accrue or be paid to a person not a citizen or bona fide resident of an eligible country.

Eligible countries are member countries of CDB

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of CDB’s Guidelines for the Selection and Engagement of Consultants (2011), setting forth CDB’s policy on conflict of interest.

In the assessment of submissions, consideration will be given to technical competence, qualifications and experience, local and regional experience on similar assignments, financial capability and existing commitments. All information must be submitted in English. Further information may be obtained from the first address below between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.

One (1) original and three (3) hard copies of the Expressions of Interest must be received at the first address below no later than 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday October 26, 2016 and one hard copy must be sent simultaneously to CDB at the second address below. The sealed envelope containing each submission should include the name and address of the applicant and shall be clearly marked “Expression of Interest – Consultancy Services for the Review of the People Empowerment Programme”

Following the assessment of submissions, a short-list of not less than three and not more than six applicants will be provided with full terms of reference and invited to submit technical and financial proposals to undertake the assignment. GOSKN reserves the right to accept or reject late applications or to cancel the present invitation partially or in its entirety. It will not be bound to assign any reason for not short-listing any applicant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant in the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest.